Aiko "Kunoichi" Fujioka
Appearance :Aiko is very slender and lean. She has various scars all over, and a single tattoo on her right bicep of a Chinese dragon eating its own tail (which goes all the way around her bicep). Her inky black hair is straight, long, and silky, and usually held back in a high ponytail. Street Clothes :Though never truly off-duty, Aiko can be seen around the Doom Patrol Headquarters in her training clothes. This includes a black sleeveless t-shirt, black pants that are tucked into her black ankle-height tabi boots, black sleeves that go from her wrists to just above her elbows with a thumb-hole (tied around the top with black string), and a black mask that leaves only a slit for her eyes and a hole in the upper back for her ponytail. Uniform :As part of the Doom Patrol, Aiko wears the standard uniform with few modifications to suit her own needs: the blue spandex one-piece suit, complete with a green skull on the torso; green bloomers; green fingerless gloves that reach nearly to her elbows; green tabi boots that stop about mid-calf; a green neckbrace that doubles as a communicator, and a blue mask that leaves only a slit for her eyes and a hole in the upper back for her ponytail. She also wears a blue sash around her waist to hold kunai, smoke bombs, and four-pointed shuriken. A ninjato and bokken are strapped in an X across her back. Personality :Aiko is a very distant yet very polite individual. She speaks only when spoken to, and even then her answers are short and to the point. Normally though, she prefers to either nod or shake her head in reply to most questions. But Aiko does have a stubborn streak and a fiercely independent attitude. She refuses to rely on anyone, but not to the point of refusing assistance. This being said, Aiko is also tremendously loyal to her superiors (Ichihara-sensei and Ulrich Köhler), and somewhat loyal to her fellow Doomers. She won't go out of her way to help someone, but she won't ignore risks to their safety, either. Powers and Abilities Relationships Birth Parents :Aiko's birth parents abandoned her as a child for unknown reasons, leaving her on Ichihara's doorstep. Ichihara :Ichihara is Aiko's teacher and her surrogate father. Ichihara raised Aiko since she was a baby less than a year old. It's unclear how much affection Ichihara provided to Aiko, but she herself was a rather reserved child, not really seeking affection or attention but rather training hard even at the young age of four in order to earn the love and respect of Ichihara. Surrogate Brothers :Aiko and her brothers had built up plenty of rivalries over the years, having trained together under Ichihara. The boys did not go easy on Aiko, sparring with her every day and even beating her harshly using their strength in hand-to-hand combat over her own lacking unarmed skills. Aiko made sure to return the favor whenever it was time for sword practice. :When Aiko was thirteen and underwent her trial to earn the title of shinobi, her elder brother Tarou ran the trial, enlisting the help of their next two-elder brothers, Isamu and Taiki. They set up a fair but challenging test that proved she was ready for the title. :No matter what rivalries have persisted among the six siblings, in the end, all five "brothers" consider Aiko to be their little sister and were not looking forward to losing her when she decided to journey to America to join the Doom Patrol. However, they also respect her enough to honor her decisions, refusing to allow their personal desires argue against her leaving them. Doom Patrol :Aiko joined the Doom Patrol eagerly. After meeting Ulrich Köhler personally when he arrived to pick her up and take her to America, she found herself looking forward to living in a new country. :Due to Aiko's independent and stubborn nature, she refuses to rely on anyone but has still been working well enough in a group by not refusing assistance. She is somewhat loyal to her fellow Doomers: not going out of her way to help someone, but not ignoring risks to their safety, either. Contrary to her fellow Doomers, Aiko is tremendously loyal to her superiors (Ichihara-sensei and Ulrich Köhler). History Backstory ---- :Fujioka Aiko was born under a different name. What the name might be is a mystery, because Aiko does not technically have a family. In legal terms, she does not exist. :The story of Fujioka Aiko actually begins with an older man by the name of Ichihara Takeshi. Ichihara is the owner of a private dojo deep in the wilderness of Japan. There he spent his time raising five young boys, all orphans, and instructed them in the ways of the ninja. These boys were aged 5 to 8, and Ichihara had come across them in his travels before settling down at his dojo. :One night, in the midst of a thunderstorm, Ichihara heard a sound that reminded him of an injured animal. Being a naturally cautious person, Ichihara went to the door with a bokken in hand, only to find a strange wrapped bundle on his porch. It was an infant girl, surely not even a year old, wailing her lungs out. Ichihara brought the bundle into the dojo, and his sixth and final student entered his life. :The child was called Aiko, and grew as all babies do: slowly and loudly. Despite her given name, Aiko was never the epitome of affection or love; she was actually quite distant from her peers and her sensei. When most children her age would have cried for a sign of affection, Aiko put her all into training, starting from age 4 when Ichihara finally agreed to teach her the ways of a shinobi. Day in and day out, she either sparred against her fellow trainees or trained with her sensei. She took to armed combat like a fish to water, but her hand-to-hand skills left a lot to be desired. This put her at a serious disadvantage against her peers, who specialized in unarmed combat, but all the harsh beatings she endured at their hands were quickly reciprocated when it came time to pick up their training swords. :At age thirteen, Aiko was given the option to test her skills and see if she was able to earn the title of shinobi. She agreed with no hesitation, seeing as she was the youngest student of the dojo and therefore the only one not to have tested herself yet. Ichihara entrusted the test to the oldest student, Tarou, who had earned his title and was given a surname in recognition of passing the test. Tarou enlisted Isamu and Taiki, both of whom had also earned their titles and surnames, to assist him. :The test was actually quite simple. Tarou met Aiko in front of the throwing targets to test her accuracy. All five of her thrown kunai, and all 3 of her shuriken, hit the targets perfectly in the middle. Then came the close-up combat, against a training dummy with Aiko armed with a ninjato. Again, Aiko performed spectacularly. Finally, Tarou, Taiki, and Isamu ambushed Aiko while she was training with a bokken, forcing her to fight them off. Only once did they manage to separate the girl from her weapon, and she surprised them all by using a form of martial arts that worked well with her smaller stature, using the boys' weight against them and primarily defending herself until she worked her way back to her bokken, which she then grabbed and proceeded to surpass all expectations by fending them off easily. Needless to say, the week after the ambush, Aiko was awarded the title of shinobi, a surname - Fujioka - and the respect of her peers. :But Ichihara wasn't done with Aiko just yet. He revealed that an acquaintance of his in America was looking to hire a shinobi, preferably in their teens. Since Kyo, the youngest of the boys, was already 18 at the time, that offer fell to Aiko, who accepted instantly. She met Ulrich Köhler when the German man arrived at the dojo to pick her up and take her to his private jet, but communication was impossible as Ulrich didn't know Japanese and Aiko certainly hadn't learned any other language. Ichihara provided translation, however, and Aiko found herself looking forward to living in a whole other country. :The boys didn't share her enthusiasm. Despite the rivalries that had built up between all six of them, they saw Aiko as their little sister, and were not looking forward to losing her. But they knew that their feelings on the matter were not asked for nor would they be welcomed, so the boys did the next best thing; they gave Aiko gifts to remember them by. *A set of ten brand-new kunai from Tarou *A set of twenty brand-new four-pointed shuriken from Isamu *A ninjato from Taiki, complete with a scabbard *A solid oak bokken from Kohaku *A folder full of sketches from the artistic Kyo, detailing Aiko's childhood at the dojo and highlighting the 'family's' closeness *A surprise pair of black tabi boots and a black ninja mask :With the Doom Patrol under martial law, declared by their boss Ulrich Köhler, Aiko remains in the Doom Patrol headquarters, since she really has nowhere else to go. She noticed Anima and Drake "Bloodpool" Wylde going in and out of the training area after a week of martial law, and has considered joining them... but hasn't yet. List of Character Appearances *None Character Also Mentioned In: *ARTICLEMENTIONEDIN Notes Category:Browse Category:Content Category:Characters Category:NPCs Category:Inactive NPCs Category:Doom Patrol Category:Earth Category:Humans Category:Kunai-Wielders Category:Martial Artists Category:Shuriken-Wielders Category:Swordwielders Category:Titans Together